Immigrants are asked to leave

Switzerland closes doors to workers from other countries

By a majority of more than two-thirds, the Swiss voted in a referendum on Sunday in favor of amendments to the asylum law and a new law on foreigners. These laws are intended to restrict the entry of immigrants into the country. They have already been adopted by parliament, and they were submitted to a popular vote by the Social Democrats, “greens” and human rights organizations. The Swiss have approved the government's immigration policy for the eighth time in the last 20 years.

The new law on foreigners restricts the ability of citizens of countries outside the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) to live in Switzerland. This means that the tightening will also affect Russian citizens. They and other immigrants can now obtain a residence permit only if they have a contract for skilled work and only if there are no Swiss or EU and EFTA nationals for this work.

In addition, if previously immigrants could, after eight years of work, apply for a status giving the right to long-term residence, now such chances are reduced to zero. More severe penalties are being introduced for such violations as fictitious marriage, under-the-table work, and illegal stay in the country. The only relief for immigrants is the freedom to move to another canton if they receive a new contract there.

Immigrants have become a big problem for a country where foreigners already make up 21.5% of the 7.3 million population, and in the most liberal cantons like Geneva their number has generally exceeded 50%. Residents of cities where refugee reception centers operate are even resorting to methods of civil disobedience, seeking their closure. In 2005, already introduced measures to limit the influx of refugees led to a reduction in requests for asylum to 19 thousand. This is the lowest number in 20 years. However, according to authorities, three quarters of those arriving in Switzerland deliberately throw away documents in order to hide their country of origin and avoid deportation. In accordance with the new amendments to the law on asylum, from now on, in the absence of documents, refugee cases will not be accepted for consideration at all. And then the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees accused Switzerland of violating the 1951 international convention on asylum. The convention obliges such cases to be examined, and the Swiss government has signed it.

If an asylum application is refused, social assistance will cease and such refugees will only be entitled to so-called one-time “emergency assistance” of 960 francs (604 euros) until expulsion. The period for which authorities can detain those resisting deportation will be increased to one and a half years.

Varvara SEMENOVA, Geneva